Dairy-Free Vegan Coconut and Chocolate Swirl Ice Cream

Nowadays, more and more people are choosing to avoid dairy; either for dietary or environmental reasons, so I thought I would have a go at a vegan ice cream. Now, in hindsight, the ice cream I made wasn't totally vegan as there were milk solids in the chocolate, but you could easily avoid this by choosing vegan or dark chocolate instead! I must say that this ice cream was so unexpectedly light and creamy and delicious that I'm definitely going to be using a coconut base for more ice creams in the future!


Coconut and Chocolate Swirl Ice Cream

Bare Necessities
400ml Full-Fat Coconut Milk
250ml Coconut Cream
100g Sugar
2tsp Vanilla Essence
150g Cooking Chocolate

1. Pour milk, cream, sugar and vanilla into a saucepan and stir on a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Take off the heat and allow the mixture to cool for 5-10 minutes.
3. Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and follow your manufacturer's instructions.
4. Once the ice cream is nearly done, melt 100g of the chocolate and slowly drizzle it into the mixture whilst stirring.
5. Once finished, put the ice cream into tupperware boxes to put into the freezer.
6. Before you put the ice cream into the freezer, melt the remaining 50g of chocolate and drizzle it on top of the ice cream.
7. Pop the ice cream in the freezer to chill for a few hours before serving.
8. Serve up and enjoy!

Turkey Gyoza

As a lover of Asian food, it has been a lifelong goal of mine to make gyoza or dumplings, but I've always been put off from the idea because of how complex the list of ingredients can be. However, now that I've got a bit more free time on my hands, and two really good Chinese supermarkets within walking distance of where I live, I figured now was the time to give them a go. I was originally going to do chicken dumplings but my local supermarket didn't have any chicken mince, so I opted for turkey dumplings instead. You'll be pleased to know that I was able to find all bar one of these ingredients at my local Asda, and you can find pre-made gyoza skins at pretty much any Asian supermarket. With the garlic and ginger, I used the frozen, pre-chopped variety, just because it lasts so much longer so I don't have to worry about wasting it, but fresh would work just as well.

As for folding the dumplings, I figured that trying to explain it to you in the instructions would be confusing, so here is a link to a YouTube video explaining how to do it. When sealing the dumplings, I mixed a teaspoon of cornflour into a glass of water, as I think it helps seal the dumpling pastry together a bit better.



Turkey Gyoza (makes approx 45 dumplings)

Bare Necessities
250g Turkey Mince
120g Savoy Cabbage (approx 3 leaves)
140g Water Chestnuts (drained weight)
2 Spring Onions
1tsp Garlic (approx 1-2 cloves)
1tsp Ginger
4tsp Soy Sauce
2tsp Worcester Sauce
2tsp Sesame Oil
pinch Pepper
45 Dumpling Skins
1tsp Cornflour

1. Loosely chop the cabbage, water chestnuts, spring onions, garlic and ginger into small chunks.
2. In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients (except for the dumpling skins and cornflour) until fully combined.
3. Lightly dust your hands and a plate with cornflour and then make the dumplings according to the video (or however you like to make your dumplings).
4. Pop the dumplings into the fridge or freezer until ready to cook. If you are cooking from frozen, make sure to cook the dumplings for several minutes extra.
5. When you are ready to cook the dumplings, pour a small amount of oil onto a non-stick pan and allow it to heat up slightly.
6. Place as many dumplings on the pan as will fit without allowing them to touch, and let them fry for two minutes.
7. Without moving the dumplings, pour enough water in the frying pan to partially submerge the dumplings by about 2cm and cover for 3-5 minutes.
8. Uncover the frying pan and continue to cook the dumplings until all the water has boiled off.
9. Serve up and enjoy!

Mojito Sorbet

This week I moved out of uni for the final time, and whilst I am looking for a job, I'm also taking some time to relax and recharge after a very exhausting end of term/year/degree. So, what's the best way to relax in the summer sun? Stay inside and make sorbet of course! Though this isn't *technically* a mojito sorbet as I used gin instead of white rum, it tastes like one so that's good enough for me!

Mojito Sorbet

Bare Necessities

60ml Gin/White Rum

175ml Lime Juice (approx 6 Limes)

Zest of 2 Limes

150g Sugar

30g Mint Leaves

560ml Water

1. In a saucepan, stir in all of the ingredients and gently heat until the sugar has dissolved.

2. Remove from the heat and cover for a few minutes to allow the mint to steep.

3. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a jug, making sure to squeeze all of the liquid out of the mint leaves.

4. Pour the mixture into your ice cream machine and freeze according to your manufacturer's settings.

5. Once frozen, pop the sorbet into the freezer for a couple hours to allow it to chill fully.

6. Serve up and enjoy!